Estrada says: ‘For now…I have no plans of running for higher office’

Joseph ‘Erap’ Ejercito Estrada is still the Mayor of Manila after the Supreme Court ruling. (Photo courtesy of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines–Ousted former president now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said that he has no immediate plans of running for a third-time presidency, or for a second term of mayoralty.

“For now, I can say that I have no plans of running for higher office. My focus is on my work here in Manila, to restore it to its former glory,” the 77-year-old former actor told reporters on Wednesday.

“I inherited a bankrupt city, which was also deep in debt, from the previous administration. Now I can say that by June, we will be debt-free,” Estrada added.

Estrada had earlier announced that he had no plans, at the moment, of pursuing reelection as Manila mayor. He said that he intends to support Manila vice mayor, Isko Moreno, should he decide to pursue the mayoralty, but that he may seek reelection should Moreno decide otherwise.

“If the vice mayor decides to run for another position, then I might change my mind and run for reelection,” he said with a straight face.

Estrada was ousted on allegations of corruption by a “people power” uprising in 2001, three years into his six-year term as President. This would mark the second time in Philippine history that a people power revolution was employed to oust the highest seat in the land. .

Recently, the Supreme Court junked a petition calling on the removal of Estrada from the position of mayor of manila, to which he was elected in 2013. The highest court of the nation upheld the pardon granted Estrada in 2007, by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The pardon was given merely a month after Estrada’s conviction on charges of plunder.